Clearance
Buoyancy Aids, Life Jackets, Impact Vests

Clearance
Buoyancy Aids

A Buoyancy
Aid is designed to make life easier if you are taking part in
any water sport that involves you actually being in the water
a reasonable amount. A Buoyancy Aid will assist you greatly in
terms of being able to tread water, but generally speaking you
still need to be able to swim in order to stay afloat. A Good
Buoyancy Aid will also provide a certain amount of insulation
on cold days and most will provide varying amounts of impact protection
depending on their design and the materials used.

The
accepted standard for a Buoyancy Aid is that is provides 50N of
floatation and that it is ISO-approved. Buoyancy Aids are worn
like a jacket and fasten at the front or side with either snap
buckles or zips (or both). As with most things, you get what you
pay for and we recommend that you should always spend as much
as you can comfortably afford. The more expensive PFD's are made
from higher quality materials, are more comfortable, and have
more adjustments / features.

Clearance
Impact Vests

An Impact
Vest is designed primarily for protection and freedom of movement
rather than buoyancy. They do, however, offer up to 50N of buyancy
in some cases. Impact Vests are intended for use during high-speed
watersports by intermediate to advanced riders where potential
injury could occur from coming into contact with the water (or
obstacles / equipment) hard. Impact Vests are tight fitting so
that they stay put during a fall and many have no openings so
are pulled over the head rather than zipped or buckled up. Impact
vests are generally thinner than Buoyancy Aids and often have
visible panels for added protection in critical areas of the torso
and spine.

Clearance
Life Jackets

A Life
Jacket differs from a Buoyancy Aid in that it is designed primarily
to keep you afloat, even if you can't swim, and to rotate you
onto your back if you are unconscious so that your head is held
above water and you can breathe. For this reason, Life Jackets
tend to be bulky and have a pronounced head / neck support plus
straps to ensure that the jacket does not come off if the user
is thrown into the water at speed. Wearing a Life Jacket for most
recreational water sports is impractical (and can be quite uncomfortable),
but using them on a boat or for kayaking is perfect, and if you
want to tow younger kids in towable inflatables then we also recommend
Life Jackets for this purpose too.